The Clean - Compilation

IMPOSSIBLE!

Point That Thing Somewhere Else, one of the easiest votes ILM's had in awhile.

It's ok it's alright it's ok it's alright it's ok it's alright OH YEAH

Love Billy Two but does anything trump the perfection of that line?

Point That Thing is my choice too seeing as it is my second favourite song of all time.

yeah, hard to see anything other than "point that thing" winning

rly??? anything could happen and tally ho (and at the bottom) get lots of love in the POX: New Zealand thread...

"Getting Older"

Great stuff all around, but I always thought "Odditty" was consensus pick for THE GREAT CLEAN SONG and it's certainly mine.

Odditty

Point That Thing Somewhere Else (A Return) (live)

live version is so fucking epic... could listen to it all day long.

Live version of At the Bottom is great too. Like Warsaw or early Cure, but with muscles.

yeah At The Bottom is awesome...as far as the six bonus live tracks at the end..."Art School" and "Hold Onto the Rails" would have made a legendary single...prolley one of the best of the 80s.

strange, I had the cassette version of this, which didn't have the last six tracks on it.

Not sure what I'll vote for, this will require some thought. Point that thing is kind of epic, but I've always loved Billy Two...

i think it was only the Homestead CD version possibly???

POINT DAT THANG

so much good stuff -- but "point" is one the jams of all time ...

guys should i like track down clean releases or just get the anthology??

my band used to cover 'someone' and i'd vote for it for sentimental reasons, but it's not on the list \(°°)/

i like the track order/brevity of Compilation, but Anthology is great too ... get em both.

cool thanks

the orig. 12 tracks (and quick step) are on disc 1 of anthology...get that.

Someone was on Vehicle (is that right?); it's on the second disc...reformed Clean has some decent moments but the stuff I really go nuts for is the old stuff which is mostly collected on Disc 1 of Anthology...if you can find a copy of Compilation, though, snap it up!

i actually love Vehicle as much as the earlier stuff ... beautiful, beautiful record all the way through

Yeah Compilation and Vehicle are both totally amazing, totally brilliant. After that, I can really take or leave most of their stuff...

actually Modern Rock is not that bad...pretty and atmospheric...Safe in the Rain and Outside the Cage hold up quite well I think.

At The Bottom. the second most listened to song on my ipod.

odditty

at one time, I thought Odditty was a sort of mangled rewrite of The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" I'm not at all sure about this though

Tally Ho!

^

hard decision tho

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Getting Older v Point That thing v Anything Could happen.

Hard Decision.

ODDITY! i really like the second disc of 'anthology' too. i'm probably in the minority on this but i <3 david kilgour solo, esp. 'here come the cars' and 'the heavy eights.' and getaway is totally underrated.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Tally Ho! sounds a helluva lot like "Wishing Well" by Love is All

is that a spraypaint can on percussion in 'getting older'??

Beatnik, Slug Song and Billy Two deserve better.

poor Billy Two

xpost yeah Slug Song is pretty much dub....if only the people knew...

btw: absolutely thrilling show at LPR on Tuesday. Didn't expect them to sounds as "big" as they did. Place was packed as well. I had no idea they still had that sort of following. Song selection was almost perfect and they really appeared to be enjoying themselves. Not sure, however, what was up with D. Kilgour's "look" though. The headband and bandanna made him look like Mike Reno. They certainly brought it though.

Washington DC tonight

i have been wondering about these shows! can't believe they didn't come anywhere near where i live, but would like to experience vicariously if possible.
more deets please!

urgh, so jealous. the clean are the best.

Well, I don't have a complete set list but recall hearing "Anything Could Happen" and "Getting Older." They also did a nice version of "Drawing to a (w)hole. Also, the earlier part of the set they stretched things out a bit frequently getting into a hypnotic groove of sorts and, seriously, sounding a bit like Neu. Totally unexpected. Having been a long time fan but never having seen them before I expected them to be a bit rickety and shambolic but...they were the exact opposite. They were heavy.

They played about an hour and the crowd was very enthusiatic.

OH MAN
that is the exact iteration of the clean that i love! i'll pass the goofy shambolic stuff for the supergroovy side any day.
extremely bummed to miss this!!

yeah. cool that they're doing things from Vehicle -- that album is so good.

Not sure, however, what was up with D. Kilgour's "look" though. The headband and bandanna made him look like Mike Reno.

Haha yeah it was weird. I've never seen them before so at first I thought "does he always dress like that?" but then Hamish joked about how "David's going for a cross between Dick Dale and Mark Knopfler."

http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/98466224af8f11e1a92a1231381b6f02_6.jpg

I took a phone photo but it didn't really turn out.

ha, yeah, looks a bit like knopfler in that pic.

the ones I remember from the setlist were Point That Thing (first song they played ... amazing), Anything Can Happen, Getting Older, Drawing to a Hole, and Tally Ho (last one before encore)

it was headband + bandana + dark aviators

Sounds awesome - glad they've still got a following in the US. Really miss seeing them play all the time back in NZ.

Since this is the only active Nun-related thread, I'll repost this from the bandcamp thread -

the Dead C's Bruce Russell cherry-picks the Flying Nun back pages for
Time To Go: The Southern Psychedelic Moment 1981-1986
http://flyingnun.bandcamp.com/album/time-to-go
The Bilders' "Russian Rug" is all-time, and really nice to see Mary Heney get prominence w/the tracks from 25 Cents/the Shallows/Scorched Earth Policy/Victor Dimisch Band/etc alongside the Clean/Chills/Gordons/&c.

BTW "Hang Onto The Rail" (which a friend got to yell at Bob Scott when he stumbled on a staircase) & "Art School" were robbed in this poll.

if you haven't checked out the bonus stuff from a recent reissue of Getaway, it has some of the best live Clean recordings I've ever heard — just unbelievable. https://theclean.bandcamp.com/album/getaway-deluxe-2016-remaster🕸

Very sad news: Hamish Kilgour has died. Let me tell you a small story about his kindness to me-- https://t.co/lawLlkRei1

— Douglas Wolk (@douglaswolk) December 5, 2022

RIP. selfishly I'm lamenting that I never got to see them live. almost did once, they were opening for Yo La Tengo in LA, but we were waiting for my then-girlfriend's brother because he was driving, and he was out selling someone weed and turned up late and we missed their entire set. he's dead now so I probably shouldn't be mad at him any more.

Roy Montgomery opened for Dry Cleaning tonight in Auckland and started with something called "Blues For Hamish".

Glad I got to see & dance to the Clean as often as I did in Dunedin/Auckland. Didn't know enough about his life & music in New York - thought this was a lovely interview:

so incredibly heartbroken about hamish kilgour. i profiled him in 2014 when his sad sweet solo debut came out & it received the headline, "the quiet struggle of hamish kilgour." when hamish shared the article it was with the note, "it's not quiet." https://t.co/xhm7msYoJU

— jesse jarnow (parody, i think?) (@bourgwick) December 6, 2022

Has anyone ever heard that Cleaned Out! covers comp Douglas put out? Never turned up in NZ; keep hoping it'll surface on YouTube or Bandcamp one day.

Yeah, that feature ^ is really good.

listening to "all of it or nothing" on account of that article this is great. some beautiful middle ground between skip spence's "oar" and the clean

Roger Shepherd on Hamish

https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/blogs/features/hamish-kilgour-the-last-beatnik

Thx for posting that.[2]

― tobo73, Tuesday, 6 December 2022 03:44 (three days ago) link

Has anyone ever heard that Cleaned Out! covers comp Douglas put out? Never turned up in NZ; keep hoping it'll surface on YouTube or Bandcamp one day.

― etc, Tuesday, 6 December 2022 10:06 (three days ago) link

This one?

https://i.discogs.com/ENdksQov2hyDtUpM0-PLOR3iI4eMhqlsUMaIZ6Ujxtw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE2MDMx/ODUtMTY3MDM1Mjcw/NS01ODc1LmpwZWc.jpeg

I may have ripped my vinyl copy to digital, I'll need to check.

Compilation for me is something of a secret handshake record when you’re starting to dig deeper into music. It’s one of the few albums I can remember someone being so enthused getting to recommend it to me so long ago. RIP.

The Clean probably via Grant Robertson (the Minister of Finance) who seems to be a legit FN fan - for better or worse. The Great Unwashed at #1:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-mixtape/audio/2018709162/the-mixtape-grant-robertson

― linee, Tuesday, December 6, 2022 7:29 AM (three days ago)

I feel like I saw him at a few gigs back in the day (same as John Campbell); posted this to his Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzjKGSPJAc/

Jesse Jarnow on WMFU played a lot of Hamish Kilgour-related stuff on his show the other day:

https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/122421

I may have ripped my vinyl copy to digital, I'll need to check.

― Evan, Friday, December 9, 2022 3:54 PM (four hours ago)

That's the one! Would love to hear it if you've ripped it - heard the Uncle Wiggly cover on one of Brian Turner's shows ages ago. Spent a little while trawling through Bandcamp listening to random Clean covers from bands all over the world - really approachable songs, eh.

Checked - I did rip it. I'll send you a zip!

I would love to hear it too, Evan, if you don't mind graciously e-mailing the zip.

Sure thing

Checked - I did rip it. I'll send you a zip!

― Evan, Friday, December 9, 2022 9:00 PM

That'd be amazing! ILx webmail just sends something to the email we registered with, right? Don't think I've ever used it.

Another nice piece from the Christchurch Press, with quotes from Scotland's David Keenan among others:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/300760021/life-story-musician-hamish-kilgour-emanated-generosity-possibility

& a NY Times obit:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/arts/music/hamish-kilgour-dead.html

That Jarnow interview is great. I wonder about the fate of the second Great Unwashed sessions that are mentioned. And the session he recorded with Richard Bishop for WFMU.

UGH! I just remembered I was supposed to send mp3s to people. I will try to remember to do that soon!

UGH! I just remembered I was supposed to send mp3s to people. I will try to remember to do that soon!

― Evan, Thursday, December 29, 2022 6:45 PM (one week ago)

Whenever works, no rush!

Marc Masters & John Howard talking about the Tally Ho 7":

https://wastoids.com/2022/12/22/the-spindle-the-clean-tally-ho-b-w-platypus/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxHxiMlzHAA

Got my compilation in the mail yesterday, was listening to it in the car today; besides "Point That Thing Somewhere Else," really liked "Flowers." Good aimless-driving drone.

'getting older' is not only the best song but also asks the most pertinent questions

In the car for a few hours today, got through the rest of it. Very glad I bought it (triggered by unfortunate news).

"Point That Thing Somewhere Else," the song that piqued my interest, is still my favourite: first-tier, HOF drone. Yo La Tengo covering it is a perfect match. I only wish it went on for another five or six or ten minutes--they couldn't had another "Marquee Moon" to their name.

My second favourite is this, and it's almost as good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29IY2ttRUSM

There are a few ordinary songs on there (over 40 altogether, so of course there are), and there's one awful experiment, "Ludwig" (mercifully brief), but good songs kept popping up regularly, and the last two or three were really good, so nice finish.

("could've," not "couldn't")

clemenza i'm surprised you hadn't heard them before, just because you seem very knowledgable about lots of other punk and indie from the era. Compilation was also my introduction to them, and still my go-to.

"Anything Could Happen" was the first one that really wowed me, and still one of my very faves of theirs. it's one of those songs that seems familiar, the very first time you hear it

I just didn't know them at all, although I realize now that Christgau reviewed them in the late '80s--there were a few New Zealand bands he kept up with--and I would have read those reviews at the time. They were good, but for whatever reason I never ended up buying anything.

have you heard any of the many other bands in their circle? chills, bats, tall dwarves, etc. All worth while and amazing.

I have Submarine Bells, and once posted about the three songs I really like: "Tied Up in Chain," "I Soar," and "Effloresce and Deliquesce." Nothing by the others.

Check out The Bats for sure clemenza. My favorite is their first LP: Daddy's Highway

Also I emailed the Cleaned Out comp (+ random bonus goodies) to those of you that requested it. Please report here if it worked?

Thanks for the link, Evan, it came through without a hitch. You're a mensch!

Fantastic! You're very welcome.

Evan: thanks, I remember the LP. Too expensive on Amazon, so I went the other route and downloaded it.

Great, hope you like it. I love Robert Scott's taste for melody.

I think he's a pop genius, and when you squint just right he really recalls '70s Eno.

Pop genius is right

UGH! I just remembered I was supposed to send mp3s to people. I will try to remember to do that soon!

― Evan, Thursday, December 29, 2022 6:45 PM (one week ago)

Whenever works, no rush!

Marc Masters & John Howard talking about the Tally Ho 7":

https://wastoids.com/2022/12/22/the-spindle-the-clean-tally-ho-b-w-platypus/

― etc, Thursday, January 5, 2023 5:57 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hey etc did you download your files?

The sent link might expire soon, so just another bump to make sure it gets seen

Currently travelling in rural NZ so have been away from the internet - will see if I can download onto my phone tonight.

Don’t sweat it! I will resend if need be

Seeing clemenza get into the Clean does my heart good this Tues morning. Although I p much love every track on Compilation/Anthology Disc 1 I must admit that PTTSE is my favourite too, along w Getting Older & the live At the Bottom, which is the surf guitar/mutant disco mashup of my Michigan dreams

My favorite blog posted a nice rare tape recently. Note he is good about not posting and/or taking down links to commercially available music so worry not:

https://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-clean-left-by-soft-tape-1981-in.html

Hey, thanks again for sending that, Evan.

One of the nice things about the Clean's early stuff here is that so many Kiwi bands throw out a cover every now and then - here's surf band Planet of the Tapes with "Fish" on the second side of this 7" (~2:59 or so on this video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxsboiaSsgk

& here's an excerpt of Wellness doing a short and sweet dual-vocal take on "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" (nice to have a poppier cover as there's so many extended jams on it out there):

Last night was the first time I had seen Wellness play. I was hooked from their opening song. A cover of Point That Thing Somewhere Else by The Clean. Great band. pic.twitter.com/s2N5eR3d63

— Paula (@paula_j_k) April 1, 2023

https://natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/back-in-the-day-an-archival-tribute-to-hamish-kilgour

A tribute to the late Hamish Kilgour (1957-2022), musician, songwriter, and member of The Clean, Great Unwashed, and many other groups, as told through a selection of archival items from the Alexander Turnbull Library.

that's awesome!

There's a new 33 1/3rd (Oceania series) book on the Clean's Boodle Boodle Boodle EP - you can read an excerpt here:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/cleans-boodle-boodle-boodle-9798765106396/

It's on my bedside table!

My municipal library started acquiring 33 1/3's with the Oceania series. The odds of them deeming The Clean worthy are ... er, really not sure lol. Instantly the one I'm most keen to read now, however.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/music101/audio/2018976021/david-kilgour-on-the-clean-s-latest-projects-and-port-noise

David Kilgour on Radio New Zealand the other day - audio's a bit muffled for me to make out much on my terrible headphones, alas.

Bleak reading:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/565217/coroner-finds-musician-hamish-kilgour-overwhelmed-by-challenges-before-death

https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/the-clean/

Auckland University Press publishing a Clean book from Richard Langston next year!